Lynn was in charge of the day room and supervised the patients' activities during the afternoon. She was well aware of the importance of keeping an eye on everyone, but her thoughts kept drifting back to the day before when she had caught Ianto stealing.

After leaving Ianto in the kitchen, she'd hurried out onto the terrace and into the garden. Out of sight from patients and staff, she just stood there for a moment, her eyes closed. Lynn could feel her heartbeat pounding against her chest, and her hands trembled.

The crazy things Ianto had told her sounded like pure madness. It had been such a load of crap. He had most likely tried to pull her leg to divert her attention away from his actual misdeeds.

Lynn decided that perhaps it would be best to pretend it never happened. It was none of her business anyway. After making this decision for herself, she managed to calm down enough to finish her workday without neglecting the patients.

She'd been convinced that getting a good night's sleep would help her clear her mind.

It did not, much to her dismay. Lynn had lain awake, her mind spinning around their conversation relentlessly. His warning was haunting her.

The things Ianto said before she left reminded her too much of Dean. Oh, how did she miss him! He'd been a dream of a man, self-assured and caring, destined to be a nurse. Even though it was against house rules, a tender love had blossomed between them.

When Dean started working night shifts with Evan, his behaviour towards her changed. She had been curious about what he did during those shifts, but he had never told her. He had claimed that the night shifts were just hauling duties and quite dull, but she suspected he was keeping secrets from her. One night he came into her room and spoke about mysterious things that were happening at the hospital and that it was dangerous to stay. He begged her to go away with him.

She didn't believe him then and assumed he was talking nonsense. At least until he vanished without a trace. Deep down in her gut, she knew he hadn't just left. If he had, he would have said goodbye to her. Something terrible must have happened to him.

And now Ianto was telling her similar crazy stories.

Lynn wished he would stop caring for this strange patient named Jack Harkness and return to the day room. They could try to figure out together what was going on. She didn't fool herself, though. She knew him well enough to know he wouldn't do that. No one could stop him if he had decided to help this man.

But there was something else she could do. Ianto would probably despise her for what she had in mind, but it would be worth it if it kept him safe.

With renewed zeal, she asked Keris to take over and went to Nurse Richards.


"What do you mean 'strange behaviour'," Nurse Richards inquired, perplexed. The Chief Nurse sat at her office desk, her gaze fixed on Lynn, who was fiddling nervously with her apron.

She'd intended to report Ianto's theft, but her resolve was fraying. Was it truly the best thing to do? She wanted him removed from Harkness to keep him safe, but now she began to worry that the consequences for him would be too severe. Perhaps if she played it down and simply shared suspicions, everything would fall into place on its own?

"Yes, ma'am. I've seen him sneaking around and neglecting his duties. And he was evasive when I tried to talk to him about it," Lynn explained, fully aware that she had never seen him act in that manner. She'd never seen him break the rules until she caught him stealing. Ianto Jones was among the most dependable and hardworking people she had ever met.

Lynn Hopkins gave Nurse Richards a tight smile.

It was too late for regrets. Whatever was going to happen, she had to live with it.


This was supposed to be one of the regular meetings with Director Powell, and Doctor Winslow had been surprised to see the Torchwood agents join them.

And he had not expected them to bring such devastating news.

"Is there nothing you can do?" Winslow pleaded with them. "There are so many more tests I want to run, so much more we can learn about Mr Harkness' condition."

Constance Pritchard looked disappointed but said nothing. Throughout the conversation, she had been unusually quiet.

"No, there is absolutely nothing we can do. The decision comes straight from London HQ. The order is to halt all experiments at once and remove the subject. Permanently," Griffith White explained with glee as he sipped his tea.

Constance's obsession with Jack's immortality had been annoying from the start, and it had begun to interfere with their regular work at Torchwood. Griffith believed she wasted too much time on Winslow's research reports and neglected her other responsibilities. He also wanted Jack back as his driver. Side-lining the man had been so inconvenient from the start.

Griffith knew what he was doing when he included information about her secret research and the lack of results in their monthly report to the capital. He was unhappy about their London headquarters' power over Cardiff, but he knew how to exploit it.

"Ms Pritchard!" Wilson tried again.

Constance shook her head and sighed. "I'm afraid there's nothing I can do, Doctor. London has the final say."

The final say about something they shouldn't even know about, she thought angrily. Griffith should have kept his stupid mouth shut.

"There will be a new food delivery for the Morlok soon, and Jack Harkness will be on the menu," she said authoritatively.

An awkward silence descended on the room.

Director Powell cleared his throat uncomfortably and finally said. "I suppose we can call this meeting to a close..."

There was a soft knock on the door.

"Come on in, please?" Powell spoke loudly enough to be heard on the other side of the door.

It was Nurse Richards.

"I apologise for the interruption, but there is something I would like to inform you about," Nurse Richards began, looking around, surprised by the large number of attendees at the meeting.

"Go on?" Director Powell smiled at her encouragingly.

"Well, one of my nurses brought it to my attention that Nurse Jones might be slipping in his task regarding our special patient. I'm not sure if it warrants another change in personnel, but I thought I'd let you know about the complaints."

Constance Pritchard looked thoughtfully at the nurse.

"Thank you for the warning, Nurse Richards, but I don't think it'll be necessary. Mr Harkness's stay in this facility will soon be over, so we won't have to make any additional arrangements."


Ianto hated sitting around doing nothing. Well, nothing was the wrong word, but Doctor Winslow and his ridiculous experiments were tugging at his nerves.

It had been three long days of waiting for a new Torchwood assignment. Three days of waiting to set their plan in motion. It was still early afternoon when Ianto finally received further instructions for the evening - more than enough time to make the necessary preparations.

He put an empty tray on the medicine trolley beside Jack's bed. Then he pulled a paper bag out of his pocket and poured its contents onto the tray.

Jack lay on his back, half-hidden beneath his bed, muttering something incomprehensible while tinkering with a loose brick in the wall.

Ianto unscrewed one of the pill bottles and poured its contents on the tray - a white pile of salt and a brown pile of sugar.

They had decided to hide each ingredient in a different place - the sugar in Ianto's room, salt on the medicine trolley and the saltpetre behind a loose brick in the wall beneath Jack's bed.

"Got it," Jack's voice beneath the bed sounded muffled. Moments later, he reappeared from under the bedframe, holding the last brown paper bag. He handed it to Ianto, who poured the yellow saltpetre powder next to the other two piles. He examined the tray with scepticism.

"Our plan is full of holes," Ianto said after a while. "And the more I think about it, the bigger they get."

"I know, but improvising is our speciality," Jack said softly.

Ianto couldn't believe Jack was always so calm about everything.

They had been here for almost two months, and Ianto was relieved that the puzzle pieces were finally coming together. He wanted to get it over with. He just wished they had more control over the situation. Ianto was the kind of person who usually preferred to plan a mission properly. Of course, he knew that things rarely went according to plan in their line of work. They knew how to improvise. A lot, actually. But even by Torchwood's standards, this plan fell short.

There was no guarantee they'd find a way home if they pushed the Morlok back where it came from. They didn't even know if the temporal disturbance would close. The chances of them being stuck here forever were incredibly high.

Ianto heaved a sigh. Overthinking everything was counterproductive; it was time to act. He grasped a spatula and began to combine the ingredients. Then he unscrewed a glass vial and poured the mixture into the empty vessel.

"You better find a good place to hide it," Ianto advised.

Jack just grinned. "Don't worry about that."

Ianto snorted and rolled his eyes. "Just make sure it's the Morlok who gets diarrhoea, not you."

"Calm down, Ianto, I'll just cover it up with my scrubs!" Jack retorted with a soft laugh. He put his hands on Ianto's shoulders and squeezed them reassuringly.

Jack could feel the young man's taut muscles under his shirt. Ianto had to unwind, or he risked blowing his cover if he began to show nerves.

He turned Ianto around and kissed him gently on the lips.

"Don't be so nervous. Everything will be fine."

He let his fingers slide up the back of Ianto's neck and into his hair, pulling his head closer for a longer, more passionate kiss.

A moan rumbled in Ianto's throat as he hungrily returned the kiss, melting into the embrace.

Jack was always good at distracting Ianto, and today was no exception. A smile spread across his lips as he pushed Ianto back, and they both toppled onto the bed.